Alexander Armstrong: 'They take it too seriously' Pointless host speaks out on BBC

Alexander Armstrong, 49, proved forthcoming when it came to the BBC’s Pointless, dutifully answering viewers’ questions about the programme during a live web chat for The Guardian in 2017. At one point, one fan asked how they could get involved as a statistic on the show, saying: “Who are these 100 people who Pointless asks?! How do we get to be one of those 100 people?”

“They’re found online,” Alexander replied, explaining people couldn’t volunteer to be part of the Pointless 100 as it would skew the results.

“It’s done through an online polling,” he continued. “You can’t apply because that would affect our averages.

“They have to be people chosen totally at random.

“If we can be sure of one thing it’s that the BBC takes its polling and research – if anything slightly too seriously,” he quipped. “They are very particular about it.”

Alexander has presented Pointless with his co-host and the show’s creator Richard Osman, 48, since it first aired in 2009.

During the Q&A he also addressed the tongue-in-cheek double meaning of the show’s title.

“Is it intentional to call the celebrity edition ‘Pointless Celebrities’ given the celibate of celeb on there?” a fan asked.

“I particularly enjoyed when Jennie Bond had her brother’s gardener (or something) on as her partner.”

“From the very beginning we’ve made as much hay as we’re allowed out of the fact the programme is called Pointless,” Alexander said.

“Even at the pitching staff we were aware of – not so much the rod we were making for our own back, but the comic possibilities for us if we got to seize it first.

“That doesn’t stop people, even eight years on, pointing out to us the great irony of the show being called Pointless,” he added.

“It’s hilarious. There’s a moment when I say, ‘Let’s meet this evening’s pointless celebrities,’ where I can sense eight egos to my right coming off the top of the rollercoaster.”

Alexander and Richard recently celebrated 10 years of Pointless with a special highlights episode featuring some of the funniest moments from the past decade.

Acknowledging the hilarious instalment, the former told his 408,000 Twitter followers at the time: “Hope you enjoyed watching #PointlessBloopers as much as Richard and I enjoyed RUINING the show.”

The episode recapped several bizarre instances from the show’s past, including flooded lines and many odd answers offered up by contestants.

Pointless airs weekdays at 5.15pm on BBC One.

source: express.co.uk